Your trusted source for community news
Thank you for supporting the Branch Herald. We exist to serve the community of Farmers Branch and we need your help.
We can’t grow the Branch Herald into what we know it can and should be without a team. Currently, only our freelance writer(s) receive financial benefit from the news and services we provide. For nearily a year, we have worked voluntarily to provide the news organization we know Farmers Branch residents need and deserve.
Beginning in January, a paywall to the Branch Herald website will be introduced. Readers will need to buy a subscription to read nearly half of our content. Stories about city council and other important news coverage will remain free for everyone. The community calendar, announcements, obituaries, business directory, restaurant guide and classified ads will continue to be free for readers to peruse.
We love free content. We don’t like that we need to charge for our content.
However, after almost a year of providing free news coverage for Farmers Branch, in order to expand services and content, freelancers and staff must be hired.
Ultimately, the goal is for the Branch Herald to become a self-sustaining organization that isn’t dependent on one person to survive. Currently, if something were to happen to Kate Bergeron, the Branch Herald would fold. We must plan meticulously so she can have time off to recharge and connect with her family.
As far as we can tell, Farmers Branch hasn’t had a newspaper in more than three decades.
The Dallas Morning News only covers the most tragic or most heavily marketed events in the city.
The residents and business owners of Farmers Branch deserve better.
Unfortunately, since 2005, more than 3,200 newspapers in the United States have closed, according to a study by Northwestern University.
Hyper-local, digital news organizations, like the Branch Herald, are trying to fill the void. The traditional newspaper business model is broken. Not only do most people not take a physical newspaper, but younger generations are turning to TikTok for their news.
Some businesses are turning to online organizations for marketing, but their effectiveness in a local area is questionable. In addition, we’re seeing people flee Facebook as well as X. Who knows what will happen if the government bans TikTok?
The old newsletter model, which was dying, now seems to work, but doesn’t provide much space for advertising, which local businesses and residents also need – how often do people ask for local business recommendations on social media? How often do users put in photos and remind their friends and family to stop in to a local business?
However, a newsletter also doesn’t provide all the services that an old-fashioned newspaper does.
Some news organizations, such as the Fort Worth Report and the Texas Tribune, have turned to the non-profit model to raise funds.
However, after much research and after consulting with our CPA, who has extensive experience working with non-profit organizations, we don’t see enough benefit in pursuing that option, at least not yet. There isn’t much about a digital newsletter and website that is taxable. The amount of paperwork involved to gain the non-profit status would cost us significantly more than it would help us right now.
We assure you that our goals are to first provide fair, un-biased news to the residents of Farmers Branch and, secondly, to provide fair wages to those who work with us. We have no grand schemes to get rich with the Branch Herald, but we would like to, as owners, to make fair living wages, the same as most local residents.
As a result, we are adding a paywall to help fund the Branch Herald. In our ideal world, a few non-controversial companies would provide enough support that we can return to free content. We really do love free content!
We also believe that content creators deserve to be paid equitably for their time and skills.
The Branch Herald website was designed by Creative Circle Media Solutions, which has designed hundreds of newspaper websites, quite a few in Texas. As a result, it has the full function of a newspaper.
We haven’t yet marketed all those abilities, but the Branch Herald absolutely can provide Farmers Branch with a comprehensive community calendar, which was the top item requested when we did our market research. It also can provide classified ads, including a place for garage and estate sales and a cool map, so shoppers can easily find where to go.
(It's the same technology behind our Holiday Light Map, which would also be fantastic for Real Estate Open Houses.)
We also have a business directory and a restaurant guide, another user request. As time allows, we have slowly added to those, and we aren’t finished yet.
Your subscription fees will go toward hiring someone to work on those and the calendar diligently.
They are free resources for the community, and basic directory listings are free for businesses as well.
Branch Herald subscriptions will cost $5 per month or $50 for a year.
Our introductory discount will be $25 for ’25. You can use the discount code 25FOR25.
When the paywall is turned on, readers will be given the option to buy a monthly or annual subscription when they click on a story behind a paywall.. There will be a box for a coupon or discount code. That is where you enter 25FOR25. There is no page on the website where readers can go to purchase their subscriptions in advance.
We’ve had a few people send us financial contributions through our Support Us button on the website, and that has helped tremendously as we’ve launched by supporting our technology.
The Branch Herald will take off to a new level in 2025 with your support.
By the way, don't hesitate to hit the SHARE button at the bottom of the newsletter and forward this, or any of our newsletters, to your Farmers Branch friends and family.
Thank you,
Kate Bergeron & Erin Cooper, Branch Herald owners
